@chambo2008
This has happened to me with my Tanuki Earth denim recently. Hung it up for about 5 months, smelt like fungus when I tried to wear them again.
The jeans next to it, some having been hung up for a few years, were fine though.
The smell was gone after a wash.

I get that many of us here prefer how the forums worked back in the day. But I think nostalgia colours our memories. Sponsorship and 'shilling' didn't start with IG - it was here too, a decade ago.
I think also, with complex social issues like this one, it's better to be flexible and think laterally. Some guys get very rigid with this type of stuff, and all it does is isolate the individual in the long term. Adapt or die, to put it bluntly.
Some dudes don't like IG and reddit - certainly not perfect ecosystems by any measure - and not using such media probably does contribute to better life satisfaction and mental health in the long term. FOMO is real and toxic for sure. This forum is part of that too - I was able to enjoy my hobbies more the few years I wasn't reading SuFu. Just being happy with what I have and enjoying this hobby in a mindful way is something I'm still trying to master.
However, if we really want to get immersed in this hobby, forums like this is no longer adequate IMO. IG offers vastly superior communication tools, for example, and allows much more efficient networking. For example, nowadays I can message brands and shops directly with a modern messaging system, plan projects, etc - this could not have happened if I only hung around here.
Just to clarify: I don't get paid money for anything.
Re: my opinion of myself - yep, totally, I like to upload my thoughts on the internet, for sure. But like a few others here, I've been into denim for a while, and I believe my opinions can be of value to others. I tend to be quite forward and challenging of others with my own perspectives too, which can be confronting for others - but, that is, authentically me.
Re: whether I'm an enthusiast or advertiser - feel free to read my blog and check out the content I've posted on this forum in the past years. See also the community events I've participated in or organised. I do believe I've contributed in an honest and meaningful way, but that is only my perspective.

For the sake of the article, which I tried to write in the form of a balanced essay, I considered both sides of the argument. Here are some extra thoughts I didn't include in the article which you guys might have an opinion on...
Like I mentioned, influencers have always existed, on this forum too, before the days of IG.
My experience with this type of 'role' is a very gradual one. When I first started doing reviews on freebies a decade ago, I was a poor university student who had little inclination to reflect on the ethics of what I was doing. My teenage mind thought: "free shit, cool!"
As I got going with the blog, I told myself it was okay to take freebies because the feedback to me from makers or brands was that my reviews did help then with launching their brands or products, most became close digital friends and repeat blog guests over the years. I came to really enjoy helping young and small makers launch their brands (mostly leather workers at that point).
In the past couple of years I've been approached by some Japanese shops and denim brands. Nowadays, as a white collared professional, TBH a few hundred bucks here and there is nothing to me. Not trying to humble brag: the truth of the matter is, doing reviews take up a lot of my spare time, and time is my most precious asset - if I were to charge my hourly rate at work, only reviewing freebie Japanese leather jackets would be 'worth' my time.
What I'm trying to say is that it's not the free clothes that is attractive for me as far as sponsorships and collaborations are concerned. It's the fact that I've built the brand of my blog to the point that the Japanese are taking notice. It's a sense of pride and recognition that is important to me now, and free clothes or money can't buy that. I will never accept monetary payment - which a handful of guys with huge IG accounts will now demand. You can prob guess who they are.
I know this 'how much is my time worth' perspective is somewhat narrow and doesn't encompass all the ethical issues here.
Regarding asking for freebies: Most blogs, including my own, will regularly canvas the scene, if you like, to see if there are brands or makers who want to collaborate. That's just how blogs are run nowadays. When I ask, I don't get demanding or aggressive. But I know some guys get very upset if rejected. Some people's livelihood depends on it (not so much in this hobby) , and this type of stuff can get intense for sure.
Regarding reviewing lower tier brands. I do believe that I (and most of us who are personalities of sorts here on SuFu) partly have a responsibility to explore all different tiers of the hobby and help out young/new comers to the industry, if we gel with their philosophy. I think this is part of what a senior hobbyist needs to do to give back to the community and freshen themselves up. IMO it's no good that note experienced dudes are just sticking with two or three brands. I've come to trust a lot of guys here over the years, but I don't need to be told year after year that Roy is cool, again. As much as the modern influencers might annoy some of you guys here, they do broaden our hobby in ways that this forum never could - they speak the digital language that is bridging our hobby with the mainstream.
Re: the relationship between shops and influencers nowadays. I sense a degree of discomfort, as the power to lead and influence has been further decentralised. No doubt shop owners would like to be in the directors chair more often, but with modern media that is increasingly not the case. Just as people should maintain a healthy skepticism of people who advertise, the same should apply to shops who's main mission is to sell us something. Shops and brands are rarely our true friends - hence why a community like this is important, and influencers blur the boundaries here, which of course is uncomfortable for hobbyists.
At the end of the day, the greater denim community lives on platforms like IG and reddit. We have to get comfortable with that. If we can't adapt now, how will we survive the next generation of technologies and platforms?

Excited to introduce The Rite Stuff, a project that @Iron Horse has been working on for some time.
The concept here should prove interesting to most of us: workshirts which are made in Japan using Japanese fabrics, but patterned for modern Western builds.
For the first ever The Rite Stuff shirt, a limited run of mid-century style, blue chambray workshirts will be produced by Lofgren.
Here are some photos of the sample shirt which Bryan had received - if you follow his IG you'd have seen it a few times.
A few details will be changed based on this sample, for the final version of The Rite Stuff's first shirt.
The collar shape, for example, will be further modified for mid-century vibes.
Already though, you can see here features of old school Hercules and Powr House shirts.
The details don't appear to be strict reproduction - that's not the main point here - but a mix of features from 1940s to 1960s it would seem.
I won't speculate further, as this is not the production version of the shirt, which Bryan is beginning to receive from the Lofgren shirt workshop.
Though you can tell that it's a very detailed shirt, and fans of John Lofgren's shirts from a few years ago will be sensing the same vibes coming though.
I'm sure Bryan will have more details for us very soon - stay tuned!